3 replies to this topic

[SilentFenris]

I have played 10 matches so far on the PTS. First impressions:

- the 4v4 format seems good ONLY IF both sides have similar teams; ie 4 assaults vs, 4 assaults. This makes for very lopsided battles if 2 light, 1 medium and 1 heavy face 4 assaults.

- it seems the weapon changes to Clan lasers have impacted Light and Medium classes more heavily than Heavy and Assault class mechs. The poor performance of Light and Medium classes could also be due to team imbalance as noted above, but with the only format available 4v4 it is difficult to judge accurately. If true, the proposed changes are not good as few player choose Light and Medium classes already.

- I don't think these changes will produce the desired result to reduce Clan long range Alpha advantage. Assault class mechs will simply switch builds to get similar results to Gauss+ERLasers. Other mechs/builds will be less viable if the changes are implemented.

Match footage from Assault Class tests - https://youtu.be/h8lhQp5QKek

Edited by SilentFenris, 13 July 2018 - 07:10 PM.

[Rydiak Randborir]

SilentFenris, on 13 July 2018 - 06:55 PM, said:

- it seems the weapon changes to Clan lasers have impacted Light and Medium classes more heavily than Heavy and Assault class mechs. The poor performance of Light and Medium classes could also be due to team imbalance as noted above, but with the only format available 4v4 it is difficult to judge accurately. If true, the proposed changes are not good as few player choose Light and Medium classes already.

This is exactly correct. Heavier weights (Heavy/Assault) can simply switch to 3 cLPL/cERLL builds, trading away medium-class lasers in the process (cERML, cMPL, cHML), while lighter weights (Light/Medium) are stuck relying on those medium-class lasers in their drastically reduced-effectiveness state.

[AdjectiveNoun]

I have never posted in the forums before, and I'm sure what I'm going to say has already been said, but I think it's important enough to bear repeating.
I played my 10 matches in the PTS. The changes to the clan ERML cannot stay this way. IS ERML have a base duration of .9 sec and deal 5 total dmg. In the PTS, clan ERML have a base duration of 1.25 and deal 5.25 dmg. An extra .25 dmg per burn is not worth the extra .35 sec burn time. I am primarily an IS player, but this isn't fair to the Clans. Extra range cannot bridge the value divide. This does not even address the differences in heat generated.
In the hypothetical example of a battle in F7 on Frozen City Skirmish, Clan medium and light mechs would be disproportionately punished if the ERML values stay as they are. Mechs of these classes uitilize these weapons more often and the reduction in damage reduces the value of their trades with the enemy as they try to peek around buildings. Before, the 7 damage dealt justified the extra exposure time, but no longer. Lights and mediums simply don't have the armor to sustain such low value trades.
To retain the flavor of Battletech lore while respecting the desire for game balance, I propose raising the damage dealt by the Clan ERML to 6 or even 6.25 with the burn time unchanged, or perhaps 1.1 sec duration. This would allow Clan light and medium mechs to spend their armor in a more efficient manner than the PTS would suggest.

Edited by AdjectiveNoun, 13 July 2018 - 08:05 PM.

[SilentFenris]

Did some more testing today. This time I loaded out a Direwolf with Gaussx2 ERLLx2 and ERMLx6 and played it on both the Live Server and the Test Server. Aside from the last match on Test Server, the Direwolf performed well.

https://youtu.be/W0giA2R7IQw

I'm not convinced of the "High Alpha" problem Paul stated in the thread ( https://mwomercs.com...s-and-planning/ ) or that Clan Laser damage reduction and addition of gauss-shake are the proper solution.

Also as stated by Paul, the percieved Alpha problem comes into play primarily in Faction Play, not in Quickplay; but weapon changes will affect both. PGI should focus on a solution that affects Faction Play directly rather than global weapons changes.